Palami puzzled by AFC refusal to allow Global new-boy Matt Hartmann to play against South China

Global FC team owner Dan Palami hopes the lineup issue can be resolved before the March 11 game in Malaysia. Jaime Campos

GLOBAL FC was already down two men even before kickoff and owner Dan Palami believes that prevented the team from putting up a good fight against South China on Wednesday night in the Asian Football Confederation Cup.

Palami said they learned just an hour before the kickoff that only 19 men from the 21-man lineup would be allowed by the AFC and Global have yet to confirm why.

That kept newly-acquired kept winger Matt Hartmann and a foreign player out of the match and apparently disrupted the club’s game plan.

"We're really at a disadvantage," Palami said after Global FC suffered a 6-1 beating.